Shops warned to stop selling smoking candies

The Ministry of Health and Medical Services has warned all shop outlets involved in importing and selling ‘smoking candies’ to the public, especially children, to ‘STOP’ immediately.

Dr Geoff Kenilorea, Director of Non- Communicable Disease Program within the Ministry of Health and Medical Services strongly emphasized the statement yesterday.

Dr Kenilorea said, the Ministry is aware of emerging reports of new packet of candies for children depicting cigarettes is currently on sale in Honiara.

He said, conducting such business is illegal according to the Tobacco Control Act 2010.

“The shops must be very aware that they have the responsibilities to follow the country’s law and to protect our communities. And our call here from this press conference to them is they need to remove the illegal candies from their shelves. And they must also know that if they do not remove them and if they are caught with those candies in their shops, they are at risk of facing some harsh penalties.”

Dr Kenilorea specified various penalties for such conducts under the Act.

“If we catch up to them, the penalties are quite severe and the people could actually be put in prison for a maximum of two years for the first offence and they could be fined up to twenty thousand dollars. If the company is doing this, then the company will be fined for the first offence up to $500,000.”

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About SIBC

SIBC is a public service broadcaster which facilitates educational programs, recording and promotion of local music and the unity of diverse cultures in a scattered island nation.

History

The Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation was established by an Act of Parliament - The Broadcasting Ordinance 1976.
It was established to provide a high quality broadcasting service, by radio, of a wide range of programs for the information, education and entertainment of all people living in the sovereign borders of the Independent State of Solomon Islands.Radio broadcasting was established by US military forces in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP) during World War Two. In 1944, the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) developed small, mediumwave stations at Lunga on Guadalcanal and Munda, New Georgia. These were designed to provide information and entertainment to the hundreds of thousands of US service personnel then based in the BSIP. The stations were part of the Mosquito Network, a loose network of similar AFRS stations stretching through the South-West Pacific, from Bougainville in the north to Auckland in the south, and including outlets in Espiritu Santo and Noumea.
As the Pacific war moved northwards, the AFRS stations closed and BSIP listeners returned to tuning to broadcast programmes from Australia or further afield for entertainment and information. In 1946, a rudimentary weekly half hour of news and service bulletins was established by the BSIP Administration. The service was transmitted from Honiara on regular inter-island radio frequencies using Government transmission equipment and soon developed a regular following.
By 1952, the broadcasts were on a much stronger footing and the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service (SIBS), an arm of the Government, was established. In 1976, new legislation converted the SIBS into the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC), a totally independent public service broadcaster charged with providing national radio coverage and a full range of news, educational and entertainment services.
For more on the history of radio in Solomon Islands click here:
SIBC Stations

Location

SIBC's headquarters are located at Rove in Honiara, the capital city of the Solomon Islands.
Both Radio Happy Isles' and Wantok FM's studios are located at the headquarters.
Radio Happy Lagoon is located in Gizo, Western Province. It is currently broadcasting on FM after an earthquake damaged the AM infrastructure.
Radio Temotu is located in Lata in the Temotu Province. It is currently not broadcasting, but serves as an important communications link between the remote islands and the capital.